Well here we are. It’s almost Football O’Clock.
As per usual Arsene spoke to the media yesterday so there are bits and pieces from that to get through. More up to date team news sees us without Eduardo, as expected, Carlos Vela, as expected due to his travel arrangements, Nicklas Bendtner who picked up an injury in training and Gael Clichy who will be replaced by Kieran Gibbs.
It’s a good chance for the young man to start really pressuring Clichy who has not had a good season and over whom worries, if not doubts, grow. He’s got the backing of the manager who says:
I believe he has the quality to be the England left back. I have said that for a long time. He is still very young. He has a lack of experience but has the quality. For him now it is to consistently play.
And here’s his chance. A good performance or two will really turn up the heat on Clichy and there’s no problem for a manager quite like the one when he’s struggling to choose between two players for the same position who are in good form.
The goalkeeping situation has changed since the other day too. Initially Fabianski was back and in the squad with Almunia rated only 50-50, but this morning the Pole isn’t quite ready while the Spaniard is back in the squad. Arsene was asked who would play in goals and normally you would think that when your number 1 keeper comes back after an absence he’d be straight back in, but there was no such guarantee for Almunia.
Personally I think he’ll play but he knows there’s absolutely no margin for error now. Not only does he have competition from Fabianski, who was given a new contract last summer, but also Don Vito who has shown he’s got potential too when thrust into the team in recent weeks. I do wonder if there’s been an element of Almunia being sent away to get his head right or something but if he does get back into the team he knows he’s got to perform if he wants to stay there. And that is probably no bad thing.
Today’s game allows to start where we left off before the international break. With all due respect to Birmingham this is the kind of game you have to win if you want to challenge for the title. It’s not going be easy. Birmingham are big and physical but then so were Blackburn and to a lesser extent Wigan and Portsmouth and we dealt with them comfortably enough. Of course there are no ‘bankers’ in the Premier League, I said bankers, but this is a game you would expect to win.
In other news Henry Winter talks to Andrei Arshavin in the Telegraph. The Russian really is an interesting character and one that this team needed, I think. Somebody to bring experience but also cohesion to the group. He says:
We must improve our character. When we played Man United this season, they just showed character and it was enough to beat us. We must have confidence in each other. We are very friendly off the pitch but we must be stronger and trust in ourselves a little bit more. We must believe more. The confidence is coming but sometimes it seems to me we don’t have enough.
And all the young players with all the potential in the world can’t make up for somebody with the desire or the spirit that Arshavin appears to have. A guy like that in any team, from Sunday park football to the top flight, is absolutely invaluable. And when he’s a quality footballer too all the better. The more he plays the better he’ll be and when he really starts to click with Cesc, van Persie, Rosicky etc, then it’s going to be something to behold.
The boss also spoke about referees yesterday. One of the journos at the press conference was, rather naively, trying to get him to talk about Alex Ferguson and Alan Wiley, hoping for a soundbite to turn into a backpage headline, but Wenger is too smart for that. He did, however, suggest there’s an over-familiarity between some refs and some players/managers. And he’s right. Remember Graham Poll, the ultimate star-fucker who wanted to be friends with the players rather than the official and ultimately that’s bad for the game. Alan Wiley sharing a joke with Ferguson at the Manchester derby just before United’s late winner. Refs not booking England players despite the England player telling them where to go in the most industrial language imaginable.
A couple of examples but there are many more. There should be more distance between refs and those taking part, either as manager or player. We all want to see a ref who communicates with players on the pitch but using a player’s nickname is not right. You can have a good dialogue without being servile and some of them are. Interesting comments from Wenger, and as today’s official is the unctious little toerag who, as 4th official, shopped AW to Mike Dean during the United game for the vicious kicking of a water bottle, I suspect there’ll be plenty of distance between officials and competitors today.
And that’s really about that. I’m going to breakfast then keep myself busy with a trip into town before the match. Here’s to a good win and three points and a happy Sunday blog tomorrow.
Till then.
